How I Met Love, Tampa Dance, Part 2

*To start at the beginning, click here. *

A little later on, I decided to take a break and catch my breath by the refreshment table. As I was sipping water, the familiar low voice was again by my side.

"It sure is hot in here, isn't it."

This time when I turned to him he was facing the dance floor, glancing at me from the corner of his eye.

"It sure is! I can't seem to cool down," I said smiling, happy that he had chosen to come talk to me.

"Do you know how to dance to this?" I asked. The song was a Latin Samba, something that was played often in Florida.

He laughed, "No, not really!"

"Great!" I laughed back, "Me neither. Let's go try it!"

"You're not serious, are you? I really can't dance!"

"That's okay, it'll be fun."

I teased him as I turned around in front of him and started to sway my hips back and forth, leering him onto the dance floor. He smiled and took my hand. As the music played, we twisted and turned, in and out of each other's arms. We filled the space around us with laughter as we tried to imitate what others were doing.

"Are you from Tampa?" he asked.

"No, I live in Orlando. Are you from here? I've never seen you at a dance before," I responded.

Laughing he said, "Yeah, it's been almost two years since I've been to one of these. A friend asked me to help set up for an activity before this and then she made me stay for the dance. I'm from Bradenton. It's about 30 minutes from here."

"I hadn't planned on coming tonight, either," I said. "I was scheduled to work, but luckily I got off early." I hoped he could tell by my voice that I was very happy to be there.

"So, what's your name?" he questioned.

"Bethany, what's yours?"

He paused for a moment, making sure I was listening and said, "Shanam."

"Shanam? How do you spell that?"

"S-H-A-N-A-M."

I thought that was quite an interesting name and I wanted to know more, but it definitely wasn't the time to ask.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Shanam," I said instead.

"You, too, Bethany." Once again flashing his pearly whites.

Slowly, our movements turned from being silly and uncoordinated to smooth and focused. With every pull toward him, I was more and more aware of his warmth and strength and less aware of anything or anyone else around me. When he gently pulled me up from the final dip, and I looked into his eyes, I felt like I was seeing him in a whole new light. It took a moment for me to catch my breath and return back to my surroundings.